Contamination
by UnknownWriterToTheWorld
Summary: The zombie apocalypse has come. On graduation day, they are let lose and Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Levy, Gajeel, Wendy, and Erza get separated. Will they survive the zombie apocalypse, or will death soon be on it's way to the group? Nalu, Gajevy, Gruvia, and Jerza. Get your popcorn, cause this will get crazy! Bad at summaries and please like and review!
1. Chapter 1

The time had come. It was bound to happen. The Zombie apocalypse. Scientists had bragged about creating the ultimate human but Lucy knew it was too good to be true. Before long her fears become reality when all of the patients started ripping each other to shreds. When the scientists came to feed the patients, they saw a massacre. It wasn't long before the whole facility was destroyed and the infected monsters crawled out of their prison and feasted on anything they could find. It had been her graduation day, and she was an advanced student along with seven others. They had classes together and were the best of friends… before they got separated. It had been like any other day…

Flashback 1 Week Earlier(Lucy POV)

"Hey Lu!" Levy said to me walking into class. I smiled and handed her some papers. "Here is my latest chapter! I hope you like it!" She jumped and took the papers, immediately sitting down to enjoy her favorite book. I had always wanted to be a author, and I am a prodigy, writing college papers since 2 years old.

My name is Lucy Heartfilia. I have blonde hair and brown eyes. I may be a little busty but I try to hide it with hoodies. I don't like showing off my body! I loved the stars and was amazing at navigation. I knew all of the constellation by heart and knew the zodiacs like we were best friends! I am a big bookworm, but I can't compare to Levy McGarden. She read about 3 books a day maybe more, and I was surprised she could hold all that information in her tiny head. Levy was very petite. She was probably to my shoulder and she had blue hair with brown eyes, and always wore an orange bandana.

"Ah, there you two are I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions!" _Erza._ The scarlet haired, brown eyed teenager was student body president. She was in advanced classes and was a natural leader. Trust me… Do NOT get on her bad side… unless you want to die.

"Sure! What about?" Levy asked already done with my new chapter. I just sweat dropped and she gave me a thumbs up. "Great chapter Lu! The plot is so smooth!" she then turned back to Erza. "What questions did you want to ask?"

"Have you guys heard about the new super-humans? They are being injected as we speak and will soon be the next soldiers this world needs!" Erza said excitedly. She was always interested with genetics… but so was I and I knew how microbiology worked. Super-humans weren't possible. I rolled my eyes. Erza turned her attention on me. "What's wrong? You don't believe it?" she asked surprised like I was cursing the dead or something.

"Erza, you and I both know super humans are not possible. Sure they can manipulate the human genes, but-" Suddenly loud shouts were heard from outside the door. Then the door swung open.

"Oh come on Ice-princess you know you wouldn't beat me in a fight!" a pink haired, onyx eyed boy said. It was none other than Natsu Dragneel, the strangest boy in school. He always wears a scarf, even in 100 degree weather! Not to mention he doesn't even break a sweat when working out EVER! I only know what he looks like working out because we work on tons of projects and he HAS to work out at least once a day. He just grabs the largest book nearby and holds it while doing 100 one-handed pushups! How!?

"No way! I would so win in a fight fire breath!" Gray Fullbuster said. He had raven hair and dark blue eyes. He had a...stripping problem… Everyone was used to it except his personal stalker Juvia. She has blue hair and deep blue eyes. She loved the water almost as much as she loved Gray, and that is saying something about her love for him seeing as she is a gold medal winner since 4 years old for swimming speed. Nobody has beaten her, and I don't think anyone ever will.

Natsu and Gray got into fighting stance and suddenly Gray was shirtless and had no pants on. Juvia was in the back of the room and she fainted with hearts in her eyes… Poor girl. "ENOUGH!" Erza said smashing their two heads together. "Yes m-ma'am..." they said falling to the floor. It would have been entertaining to watch, if I wasn't so worried about graduation. _What if I trip!? That would suck...What if I fell into a puddle!?_ I looked outside to see a foggy day… "Strange… Hey Wendy, wasn't it clear this morning?" I asked to a young girl. She was as old as a sophomore but she was really smart so she was graduating early. She had dark blue hair and light brown eyes. She always wears cute clothes and I sometimes asked wear she got them and bought them in my size… Anyway, she was super smart in weather studies and she wants to be a meteorologist.

"Yeah… That is kinda weird, but I guess the houses blocked the sun making it colder so the fog accumul-" I tuned out and stared out the window toward the facility of human genetics. _I don't have a good feeling about something… But what?_ Then the announcements came on and I forgot what I was thinking about.

"Alright, today is a strangely foggy day, but graduation for seniors will still be outside facing the facility. It will be held in thirty minutes. Have a great day!" The announcements ended and I looked around to see everyone putting robes over their clothes. I did the same and we all talked about graduation. "Gajeel said he was going to pick me up after graduation and take me to a nice restaurant!" Levy blushed thinking about Gajeel, who sitting a crossed the room, came and sat down next to us. "That's right Shrimp. Make sure you have nice clothes on underneath that." He said pointing to her tiny robe.

Gajeel Redfox was about the scariest person to meet, but once you get to know him, he can be nice...sometimes. He had a TON of piercings and had red eyes. His black hair was spiky and went down to his lower back. Somehow Levy thought he looked cute, and the couple blossomed… Weird.

"Hey Luce, you wanna sit next to each other during graduation?" Natsu came up behind me putting his arms around my shoulders. We were friends but I wanted to be more than that. I blushed thinking about me liking Natsu. He is so kind, and sure he can be destructive, but that is what makes Natsu… well Natsu! He always protects his friends, and he has beaten up plenty of pervs in the past, and then he would hug me saying he would always be there for me. I tried not to blush even more and I could see Levy smirking in the back. She knew of my little… secret.

"Sure, why not!" I said smiling and he returned the smile with his own signature grin that made me just about die every time he did it. "Alright children, let's get ready for the graduation ceremony!" the announcement suddenly came on. We all stood up and went out the doors in robes. I saw about a hundred other seniors coming out of their classrooms. We all went outside to see reserved seats for children and there were a couple of parents waiting with cameras. _I wish my parents could come…_ I actually lived alone, since my parents died in some malfunction surgeries for a condition they both had.

We all sat down and Natsu and I talked about who would win in a fight. "Luce, I could beat you in a fight, that is why I am in advanced classes you know...Prodigy remember?" He said. Natsu was a natural fighter. He would always see where he was ranked in fighting compared to other students, and he didn't leave out the girls, sometimes challenging me to a fight. I knew if we fought, it would last maybe three seconds before I was on the ground cold, but I like teasing him, since we never fought before.

"Surrree Natsu, you are a prodigy, but fighting isn't just strength and I am a pretty good strategist. I guess we will never know who will win..." I said smirking and Natsu was pouting. He crossed his arms and looked the other way. "Aw, come on Natsu, you know you would beat me in a fight easy!" I decided to take the loss on this one, just because he looked so cute… Ughh, what does this boy do to me?

He looked at me and his eyes softened. He gave me his grin and I smiled back. It was a chilly day and I shivered. I was wearing a hoodie but it was still cold! I don't have enough money to buy heavy winter clothes. I only have a part time job, but Natsu basically lived with me since his home was in terrible shape, so he chips in with money. Natsu has been living alone since he could remember. He remembers his dad giving him a scarf and then leaving. He never had a mother, and I felt bad for him, but he didn't seem to care, and he talked about how he was going to find his dad one day. It was really nice seeing how happy he was thinking about his dad.

"You cold Luce?" I felt something around my neck and looked down to see a white scarf loosely draped around my neck. I looked wide eyed at Natsu who was concentrating on tightening it around my neck without choking me. He then looked at me and smiled and gave me a thumbs up. "Now you won't be cold! Plus, you look really good with the scarf on!" He said. Wait… was that a little blush I saw? No, it must have been his face getting red from the cold… Yeah. I blushed suddenly realizing what he had just said. I look good in his scarf!?

"Thank you Natsu… You didn't have to let me wear this. I know how important it is to you," he scoffed acting like it was the dumbest thing I had ever said. "Yeah it is important to me, but you are too! I told you I would always protect you and a cold on graduation day would be terrible. Beside you can just give it back to me when we get back to your apartment!" He said looking forward. I looked forward to see everyone chatting with each other and then suddenly there was a noise from the stage and a man walked to the front and tapped the microphone.

"Alright kids, today you will be graduating high school and moving on into the real world. I recognize most of your faces and will miss all of you...except Natsu," most of the kids laughed at this, and he continued. "I will call your name and you will come up here and get a picture from your parents, and then take your certificate and leave with your parents. Now let's get this graduation started!" He said and everyone cheered.

Facility 10:32 am

"Sting, can you get these syringes to the cleaning house?" Rogue, a black haired man asked his colleague and blonde twin brother. "Sure thing, I just need you to feed the patients, and I will be back in a couple of minutes to help you." Sting walked away down corridor B which led to the cleaning warehouse. Rogue went the opposite direction down corridor A, the patient room.

As Rogue walked down the corridor, he smelled something… He just couldn't put his finger on it. "Minerva must have burned the meals again..." he said unsure. He was about to lift the tin lid to see the food, but he stopped realizing he was unauthorized to mess with the food after it has been tinned by the cook.

Rouge reached the doors and the smell was getting stronger. He opened the door and instantly threw up. There was blood all over the floors and walls. There were body parts thrown all around the room, and in the corner were maybe 20 patients. "Oh my goodness, come with me, we will get you all cleaned u-" he was interrupted when they turned his way. They had blood around their mouths with jutted sharp teeth sticking out. They had glazed eyes, and their skin color was very pale, almost white. Veins sticking out from their clawed hands, hair that had been ripped out from the skin, resulting in bald bleeding heads, it was too much for Rogue to handle, but what made him lose it was the thing they were eating. It was an uncontaminated patient that had not been injected yet. He had a face of horror and all of his limbs were ripped off and thrown into a dark corner. The contaminated patients… were eating him…

Rogue sat in complete shock, and then instinct took in. He ran away just as the patients ran out of the room chasing him. They ran like monkeys, on all fours and caught up quickly to Rogue. One patient came and tackled him. Rogue suffered many scratches but got up and kept running. He was limp-running and the patients tackled him and Rogue had a single tear running down his face when realization kicked in for what they had just done. _The zombie apocalypse is coming… And we caused it…_ Were his final thoughts before they ripped his head off and ripped flesh from bone.

Sting walked down corridor B toward corridor A. He was whistling a merry tune and reached the intersection between the corridors. A powerful iron smell came from corridor A. Sting's confused face suddenly became filled with horror and he ran down the corridor thinking of one thing. _Rogue._

Sting reached the patient room and stepped back, looking into the room. He didn't throw up but he did notice the throw up on the floor next the room. _Rouge has been here.._ He looked down further into the corridor and noticed blood on the floor before a sharp turn covered anymore blood. Sting walked slowly toward the corner and the blood trails became more thick. He saw weird human footprints in the trails… Rogue was being chased. Sting reached the corner and slowly peeked his around the corner. Immediately tears came to his eyes, and he fell to his knees. There was Rogue being eaten by the contaminated patients. He hid behind the corner deciding not to look anymore and cried silently before taking action. He stood up and took off down the corridor toward the alarm system. He passed the patient room and managed to silently dodge the body parts on the floor… well most of them. He hit an arm and fell instantly and made a large crashing sound.

"CRAAAAAA!" he heard the screams of the patients before they came barreling around the corner. Sting quickly got up and ran to the alarm system. He could see it in sight, but they were catching up to him. He knew what the alarm system did. It sounded an alarm that could be heard at a 5 mile radius and it closed all of the doors with metal, that is almost indestructible, minus nuclear weapons. He knew the high school was having graduation day. His daughter went there and his wife Yukino was there taking pictures. He couldn't let them get out. They would get hungry eventually. He only had a few feet to go, and the patients were hot on his tail. He knew he was going to die, but he HAD to save his family

He got to the alarm and pulled the lever down. He was tackled to the floor with his head facing the doors, he saw the metal slowly coming down on the glass doors. He suddenly felt a terrible pain in his back. They were scratching the skin off his body. Tears came down his face and he couldn't hold down a scream and sob or two that left his mouth. One of the patients took his head and held it ripping it slowly. Sting no longer felt any pain, but he noticed the patients looking at the doors. The alarm came on and the patients were swinging their heads around trying to get away from the sound. The patient let go of Sting's head and they ran for the door. _No…_ Sting thought. There was only a couple of inches left of space between the doors and the ground and before Sting's vision left him, he saw one patient leave, and then two, then three, and then all of them ran out of the facility before the doors closed leaving silence. Sting cries echoed in the facility for a while, and then it was silent, and that's how it remained for a very long time…


	2. Chapter 2

High School (Lucy POV)

They were about to call the first person for graduation before an alarm went off and red sirens flashed. We all faced the facility to see the metal doors closing slowly. "Natsu, what's going on!?" I said yelling over the sirens. He just looked at me face full of worry and then smiled sadly. "I am sure it is just a drill… Don't worry Luce, we will be fine..." he said smiling, but it wasn't his grin, and it made me worried even more. Everyone sat in silence looking at the doors closing. It was only a five minute walk to the facility, so it was obvious we were scared stiff when we saw...things crawling out from the doors heading straight for the high school. Screams could be heard from students and the doors to the school opened revealing thousands of students which included the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors running out the building. Our group of seven looked at each other before running with the group. I was so scared, that I wasn't looking where I was going. I could only see the back of everyone's heads as we ran toward… well opposite the facility.

Suddenly I hit the ground and I saw Natsu screaming while being shoved around but I could hear what he was saying. I am guessing he was calling my name, but I will never know. I was being run over by thousands of students,but I quickly got up and I could now see where I was going since I was with the freshmen in the back. I turned toward the forest next to the school. It was a huge and thick, so I figured the group would also run into the forest. Nobody followed me and I was thankful for that looked beside me to see a kid being tackled to the ground and a white blur ripping the kid to shreds. I kept running but I was crying hard.

I reached the forest and kept running until I couldn't run anymore. There was nobody around and it was completely silent. I stayed still waiting to see if I could hear any sounds. When I didn't hear any, I stood up and limped to a cave. We were known for having many caves in the area, and the facility said they didn't want any construction in the cave was pretty small, but it was deep, and had many hiding spots so I figured I was safe. I walked in slowly waiting for a wild animal to kill me. I limped into the cave and noticed how dark it was. I decided to work fast so I could get back to the cave. The last thing I wanted was to have to work at night with those things walking around.

I walked outside and saw the sun high in the air. I had plenty of time, so I could get to know my surroundings. I looked down at my clothes noticed how shredded they were. My eyes widened when seeing Natsu's scarf around my neck and I limped back to the cave I then maybe spent an hour silently crying in the cave holding Natsu's scarf that was still around my neck. I had completely forgotten about it! The only thing he has from his father… I decided that the only way he was going to get it back, was if I survived. I had a new goal, and I was not going to fail this one.

I walked out with determination, and looking back on my actions, I may have been a little stupid...I was REALLY loud. I tore limbs from trees, I dropped sticks, picked up rocks, and while walking to and from my cave, I found a river not to far behind it. I now knew how I was going to find food. Sure, fish isn't the best food, but beggars can't be choosers. A while later I walked back to the cave with the fifth bundle of sticks I could gather and set it next to my bag on dead fish. I looked at my dirt drawing of a clock with a giant leaf suspended with sticks on top of it. The shadow covered everything up to the seven o clock mark.

Dinner time. I built a fire and put the river rocks next to the fire, that way i can place them around my sleeping area to keep me warm. I put two sticks that each had a slit in the middle and placed a third stick with a fish on it through the slits. I turned the fish every now and then and soon after about ten minutes, I had a cooked fish.

I was eating silently when I heard a rustle in the bush outside. I looked up and the bush rustled again. I quickly stood up and jumped onto the little rock ledge in the dark. I peeked my head over so I could see. I waited for a while until I heard the rustle and then ducked down again. Finally the creature came out, and it surprised me.

A little blue cat walked into my cave and started eating MY fish! I jumped down silently and stlaked the kitten. It seemed malnourished and I wondered how it was blue. When I decided to introduce myself, I nearly gave the cat a heart attack. "No, no, no kitty, I am not here to hurt you." I said to the bush where it ran back to. I held up the fish to the kitten. "See? You will be safe with me." The kitten slowly came out and it looked to be a male, and about 6 weeks old. He was very skinny and I felt bad for the little guy.

He came up and slowly bit the fish, and then started eating super fast. It looked up and me and meowed and I looked around. I guess it couldn't hurt to take in the little guy. He didn't seem to have a mother, and he made me...happy. Yeah I like that name. I brought him back to the cave and cooked another fish, this time to share. He warmed up to me pretty quickly and he seemed to understand that silence was important. He never meowed when he wanted more, he simply nudged my hand. I smiled and gave him another piece. After a while, he yawned and walked toward my leg. He got as close as he could to me and laid down.

"Silly Happy, but we are sleeping on the ledge," I whispered and for the first time, picked him up. He was very light. He didn't seem to mind being carried, and I was glad, because in long terms, we are going to get as far away as we can from the facility. Maybe across the world. By then the government will be involved, if they aren't already. I carried Happy the the ledge and made his own little circle of hot rocks right next to my bigger circle of hot rocks. He got comfortable quickly and fell asleep almost immediately. I giggled and laid in my own rock circle and fell asleep to the sound of the fire.

Dreamland

"Natsu come back!" I said running toward the pink haired boy. His fist lit up in flames and for some reason, I wasn't surprised. "Get him Natsu! Open gate of the golden bull! Taurus!" A giant cow-man with an axe appeared with a puff and and told me I was hot before attacking the wizard. He was down for the count and Natsu and I high-fived. "Aw yeah 40,000 jewels here I come!" I said looking at Natsu. He smiled which made me blush. _Great I like him in my dreams too…_ Suddenly a voice appeared behind me "You llllllike him~" a blue flying cat said "I DO NOT YOU STUPID CAT!" I said chasing him. Boy am I stupid, chasing a FLYING cat… Ughh. All of a sudden there was small pressure on my face. "What's wrong Luce?" Natsu asked. "I don't know, I feel like something is pressing my face..." "Meow" _What the? Oh wait…_

I woke up to a purring Happy nudging my face. You hungry Happy? I asked. He pawed my hand and I laughed. "Good, because today, we start our journey to find the others and get a far away from here as possible." I got off the ledge and Happy followed. I used my hoodie as a bag leaving me in a tank top with shorts and sneakers on. I had pants, but I used those to make rope for animal traps. I watched a lot of Bear Grylls and now I am an expert!

I got the rope from the traps to see I had gotten a squirrel and a few other rodents. I smiled and put them in my hoodie-bag. We walked to the river and I washed my face to wake me up. I tied the rope around a couple of holes in my hoodie to make a bookbag and I had an open spot in the actual hood, where I put Happy. He seemed content and I could hear him pur. We walked for a while before coming upon the city, and I was shocked. The whole place was deserted. There wasn't a single sound except a newspaper that was flying in the air. Stores looked empty but we decided to look anyway. I found the occasional can of soup, and I found some cloth which I made into another bag and tossed my new findings into it.

I made it to the sports store and found almost no weapons. The only thing there was a pocket knife and a bow. I looked around for some arrows. No arrows… Why me? I kept replaying that thought in my head. I was supposed to be graduated right now, but no! The scientist had to screw up and now we have monsters running around the town. I don't know why the government hasn't heard about this, but I wasn't in the mood to argue with the government. They were probably on their way right now, bringing big guns to take these things out. Yeah, we will be safe.

I walked out of the store and we left the town area. I saw the sign reading "Now leaving Magnolia, Come again!" I looked at the happy woman and man smiling at the camera. I took a step and walked on, and I was going to find my friends.


	3. Chapter 3

_Today was another rough day, I found no food, and there is no sign of water anywhere. I had to ration down my food for the third time this month, now only just barely getting by. My ribs are starting to poke, but you cannot really tell from the outside, and that is not a good thing. Those creatures see me as good meat compared to other people who are not well prepared. I sometimes find dead people and I feel guilty looting them and taking what I can, but it is the only thing I can do to survive. My bag is full of materials for fire, traps, and weapons, but I am not good at doing any of these things… I am running out of room on this page but i will hopefully write tomorrow. Until then,_

 _Lucy Heartfilia._

I finished writing and turned to the front cover of the book where a small map is, and my name written over somebody else's name saying Jenny Fields next to some dried blood. ( **Bad at making up names** ) I add on another town and look to Happy who seems to be watching me. I can see the firelight in his eyes, and I know he is getting tired of our search. To explain what I mean by search, I have been going to all nearby towns searching for the others. They are my best chance of survival seeing as they are all very smart. It is like choosing to be with the strongest team in a video game, or being alone in squad mode. I know bad analogy, but I found some dead gamer, and now that is all I can think of.

I know Happy is trying to tell me to just focus on surviving and getting as far away as I can, but I just feel like… Ughh, I know, I am going to sound crazy, but I feel as though they are waiting...for me. I know I may not be as important as the others in the group like Erza, or Natsu, but we all stick together no matter what so I feel as though I have to find them. The are my only hope in this whole mess-besides Happy. I notice the sun has gone down and I had been staring into the fire for a while. I look back to see Happy asleep, and I soon feel sleep trying to persuade me. I lay down and think one last thing before bed.

 _One more town, and if they are not there, then I will give up._

"Crshh" My nose twitches, but I ignore it sleeping. "Crshh" the noise continues and I realize how stupid I am being letting my guard down. "Crshh" By now I am already up and looking around for the noise. Suddenly I hear a whooshing noise behind me and I am tackled to the ground landing on my back with a very large man on top of me. I turn to see the embers of the fire leaving me barely able to see, but they leave a glint on an object the man is holding. _A knife_ _._ _._

He lunges down toward my face trying to stab me, but I move my head dodging him. I struggle to free my hands underneath his legs pinning me down. I have to dodge my head from the second blow but I get scratched on the face. "Ah!" I gasp feeling blood trickle down my face. I hear a low laugh and I get more and more scared by the second. The third blow and dodge must have gotten Happy angry because he leaped onto the man and scratched his face. "You damned cat!" he yells and punches Happy flinging him into a tree. My hands are free by now, but he is quick and strikes the knife at me again. I grab his arms struggling not to be stabbed. I was beyond pissed at him for hitting Happy, and this gave me an adrenaline boost. "Never. Touch. My. CAT!" I yell and release one arm that isn't holding the arm with a knife and I punch him in the face making the knife drop. I grab the nearby embers and shove it in his eyes, and he cries in pain falling on his back. My hands are burning, but at least I have the upper hand now. I take the knife and get on his stomach in a similar position to the one he had me in, except this time he was scratching his eyes from the burning embers. I grip the knife and without hesitation… I stab him… in the heart.

His face contorts into one of shock and extreme pain, before he relaxes and lies lifeless with a knife in the heart. Realization kicked in and I shudder, having a breakdown for the first time in a month since this all started. I sob for what seemed like hours before remembering who saved my life. I gasp and run over to Happy, and he seems to have broken a few bones. He doesn't look at me and just lies there. Dead.

Or so I thought. The second I touched him to check for a pulse, he hissed and looked at me before relaxing to just a look of pain. "Oh… Happy, we have to get help. It looks like you only have a broken paw or two, but you can't walk on it… Thank you..." I said crying again and putting my face between my knees. He just meows and I laugh a little and put my head up. "Well, I guess it is the bag again for you little buddy, just like a kitten." I said, and he meows and I decide to light the fire again. It is still dark, but I can see some light coming from the east.

I light the fire and look at the camp. There is a pool of blood mixed with dirt next to the lone man laying with two bags to his side. I hesitantly go over to him and just to make sure he is dead, (I know he was dead I was just scared) I tapped him and then immediately held the knife up. When he didn't move, I lowered the knife and scooched over to his bags and looked inside. My mouth instantly watered looking at all the dead rodents inside one of them. Possum, squirrel, chipmunk, and more lay in the main compartment. When I look at the other bag, I see many fish inside. _Looks like he had all food and no materials. We would have made a good team…_

I look at his face, and he wore almost all black, and he red ginger hair and he was missing an arm. He looked older, maybe mid thirties-forties. He had almost black eyes and they now looked almost innocent and I would have felt really bad if he hadn't tried to kill me. I remembered who made the first move and I took his body to a bush and hid it. I don't want his body to be food for those creatures.

I sat in silence for a while stroking Happy's fur. He seemed to be more gentle realizing the pain was only in his paws. I looked at my map on the notebook, which now had some more blood on it. I looked at the city I had drawn (Remember she is really good at navigation) and I looked at stars which were starting to fade. I found north and grabbed my things, and carefully placed Happy in the bag. I said my farewells to the dead man and walked to town.

When I got to town, I noticed how large it was. This place was by far the largest town I had visited so far and it was maybe twice the size of the second largest. It was abandoned of coarse and I noticed tracks in the dirt that were not completely human. "Keep your eyes open Happy, we aren't alone." He meowed and I walked into the closest building. It seemed to be an office and was filled with computers and cubicles. I saw no interesting things and walked out finding other buildings with similar items of no value. I suddenly came a crossed a building labeled "Martha's Bakery!" I walked inside and smelled something delicious. I walked in further to smell bread. "Martha, you have a gift," I whispered and went to the back room where the smell was the strongest.

I opened the door and was flung onto the ground from an explosive. _Proximity mines!?_ I realized my ears were ringing and got up slowly. My body was aching and I couldn't imagine how Happy must be feeling. He seemed to be breathing and I soon found out I had my own problems. I forgot to mention that explosives make a lot of noise, not to mention they blow up things. I turned to see at least twenty of those creatures coming from the other side of the street. "CRAAA!" Their screams could be heard throughout the whole town. I ran through the back door and shut it on their faces and ran as fast as I could. I could hear the door being torn apart and soon they busted through. I weaved through buildings and soon found a staircase leading to the roof.

I sat on the roof panting before hearing the footsteps getting louder and louder on the dirt road as the things got closer. I was maybe twenty feet above them and you could say I shat myself when they started climbing the walls with their clawed hands. I did the only thing I could do in my time of need. I screamed.

"NATSU!" The things made it onto the roof. I take in a breath. They ran at me at top speed from all directions on the roof. I clutched my body in and looked at the sky. This is it. This is where I **die.** I look back down to see one inches from me with its claws out ready to slash my head off. I breathe out. It all happened in slow motion. An arrow zoomed past my face and hit the thing directly in the face and it was instantly on the ground. The other creatures stopped and in that millisecond of hesitation, a person came and jumped like a ninja onto the roof I was on, and picked me up bridal style and jumped onto the next roof, and then the next, until we were far away from them. I was set on the ground and my head was hurting bad.

"You called?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys so this is another chapter of Contamination! Sorry for the wait and this is mainly fluff and just a filler, but it leads into the next chapter and I cannot say that I straight remembered this story off the top of my head... I got a reminder from slammer35 who loved the story and commented (love the good feedback) and they said they needed more so I flipped out and began writing and BOOM! This chapter child was born. Sorry if you hate the cringe and the filler bit, but Lucy needs to learn things! (Spoiler:** ** _someone_** **teaches her to fight a bit)**

"You called?" the voice said and the person took off their mask to reveal a smiling pink haired onyx-eyed boy. "Natsu!" I said hugging him hard. "Yo Luce! Long time no see!" his voice vibrated against my face and I smiled. "I have been searching every town looking for you!" I said breaking the hug and looking into his deep eyes. "Really? I have been looking for you, but I was starting to lose hope..." he looked sad. "Hey, I am here now, and look at my map!" I tried cheering him up and showed him the front cover of the book which had all of my drawings. "That's my girl! Smart thinking!" I blushed. _His girl? I like the sound of tha-No… You have to focus on surviving!_ We talked for a while… more like the whole day walking away from town. We made it to the forest and I started a fire since it was getting dark. Natsu gathered some firewood and we sat down just looking at each other.

"Sorry to ask, but I don't suppose you have any food in that bag of yours. I haven't had any food in awhile..." I looked up surprised. " I have plenty!" I said taking out the two bags with all of the food from the man. "Woah Luce! Where did you find all of it?!" He said and I looked down sadly. He seemed to notice the change in mood, so he scooted closer to me and put his arm around my shoulders. I sighed and smiled.

I told him the story and he seemed to think of it as the best fight story he has ever heard. He leaned in and once I was done, I looked at him and he was shocked. "Wow, Luce. Nobody should have to go through that, but you did the right thing. I know killing someone is hard, but you did what you had to. I probably wouldn't have been able to do it, and I would have died," he said looking at the fire. It was then that I noticed the scars on his body. He must have been through some rough things as well. I noticed a large one on his neck and I gasped. I never see his neck because of his… "Natsu!" I said digging in my material bag. He looked at me confused but then had a shocked expression when I pulled out a white piece of fabric.

"I was wearing it for most of the time, but when I was becoming more active, I decided to keep it in my bag so it didn't get dirty. It was my goal to return it to you, and now I have done that," I said holding it out for him. He grabbed it with shaking hands and put it on. I smiled seeing it back on him. He looked at me with grateful eyes. "This means more to me than you will ever know Luce… Thank you," he said and I smiled. He told me stories and we roasted food and I brought Happy out and Natsu instantly fell in love with him.

"Happy is the perfect name for him! He is so cute!" Happy purred against his chest and I told Natsu to be careful with his right hind leg and his front left paw. Natsu spoke in a baby voice which I found was hilarious. "You protected Luce? Yes you did, what a good boy, yes you are!" I laughed and had tears coming out of my eyes and he started laughing as well. He set Happy back down gently and the little blue cat laid down in the grass next to Natsu. I decided to ask the question that had been bothering me since I met up with Natsu.

"What happened to the others?" Natsu almost instantly tensed up and I rubbed his back. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I said soothingly, but he knew I wanted to know and he sighed looking down. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fire in front of us. "No… They were your friends too… I will start from the beginning. We all ran into the town and quickly grabbed all we could and crowds of people were getting into their cars. Most people broke into cars and I thought the town would be civil about all of this, but they were… killing each other… They took wrenches, they robbed stores to get knives, they broke windows and got shards of glass and starting killing people to get resources. Mainly they killed people with cars and stole them. We all ran to get away. Gray got stabbed and we decided to deal with what we had and we tried to get out of town, but the crowds were going in different directions, it was chaos. The government came surprisingly fast, but those things… If you don't die from those creatures in less than thirty seconds or so, than you...change. We saw it first hand when they tackled a man to the ground and bit him before running to the next person. We watched as his nails and teeth grew, and his skin became like rubber… He pulled his hair out from the pain, and his eyes were red. The government shot at them, but they didn't die. They had that rubber skin and it just absorbed it, like they were eating it… We got so scared that we just ran. Erza and Gray were the first to get separated since she had to treat his wounds, and then Wendy who couldn't keep up and got pushed in the crowds, and then it was Gajeel who was attacked by a civilian, and then Levy who was similar to Wendy, and then Juvia who was kicked to the ground. I tried to turn back... I couldn't turn around. The crowds were too strong… I couldn't save them..."

He finished putting his face into his hands and he was breathing heavily. I couldn't say anything. All of our friends...are dead. I then registered what Natsu had just said. I shook my head. "Natsu, you cannot blame yourself for anything. Sure you all got separated but that doesn't mean that they died. They are very smart, and not to mention very strong! We will find them, together. It will just be you, Happy, and I, but we will find the group. I promise you that. I have a map of the surrounding area, so we can eliminate many places..." I said half to him, and half to myself. I really needed some motivation right now to keep going. I felt strong arms wrap around me and I breathed in his scent and sighed. I am so glad I found him.

He let go and looked at me. "You are right Lucy, and we will find them! I know it for sure!" he said and I laughed. It seemed to brighten him up which brightened me up as well. We shared some more funny stories and soon I was getting tired, and it seems Natsu noticed. "Alright sleepy head, we should probably get some rest so we can talk about a game plan tomorrow." Natsu said and I laid out two blankets on the dirt next to each other. "Do you mind if I sleep next to you? After the whole man trying to kill me thing, I haven't been looking forward to going to sleep," I said and he laughed a little laying on the blanket looking at the stars. "Not at all, in fact I want you to sleep next to me." I blushed and laid on the blanket next to him. I looked at the stars and then looked at Natsu.

Hs eyes were closed and a steady breeze blew his hair slightly. He looked mature, and his jawline had created a shadow on his scarf. "It's creepy to watch people while they sleep you know," I heard a voice and saw that Natsu's eyes had opened and he had turned toward me. I blushed madly and turned the opposite way. "I was just… I mean I- well you know.." I gave up on talking and a breeze blew hard and I shivered. I froze when two arms snaked around my waist and hugged me tight. "Weirdo, I didn't mind." he turned me over, and I was soon facing his warm chest. I unconsciously hugged my hands to his chest and scooted closer to him. I sighed happily, and soon sleep consumed me. I felt something warm touch my forehead and I smiled slightly liking the warmth. I then had the best sleep I have had in a month.

Natsu POV

I finally have found Lucy. She means more to me than anyone else in the world right now, and the fact that she had almost died killed me. What if I hadn't been there. What if I tripped? What if that arrow didn't stop the thing?... _Where did that arrow come from?_ I should probably get to sleep. I look at the sleeping girl next to me and kissed her forehead. I will protect her. I have to. I failed my other friends and I can't lose Lucy... She smiled in her sleep, and I found myself smiling as well. "Goodnight Luce..." I mumbled and fell into sleep.

Lucy POV

I woke up to something grabbing me. They were warm and I could hear snoring. "Mnnn… w-what..." My eyesight is blurry, but I realize the figure is strong and I break free while I can. I grab my knife as the figure wakes up, but my eyes are still blurry and I can only hear their voice. The figure stands up and speaks. "Luce, calm down, it's me, Natsu..." I drop the knife instantly and tears come into my eyes as memories flash through of he incident. Natsu walked toward me and gestures me to he blanket I slept on. "Sorry Natsu… I just can't get that man out of my head..." I look at him and he sits down next to me. He puts a hand on my shoulder. "I know Luce…" Our eyes lock and I feel my face getting closer to his, as his face does the same.

Our noses touch and I stop. _He doesn't like you. He just feels bad that he can't return the feeling._ I back away and he looks away blushing. I smile sadly and look at the ground. "Boy am I hungry! I will go get some firewood and we can eat!" he said walking away into the forest.

I look at Happy who still seems to be asleep. He looks much better, and has warmed up to Natsu very fast. "You seem to like Natsu huh little buddy?... Well I do too..." I sigh and stand up stretching. "Crshh" There is that noise again. I immediately grab for my knife, but I can't find it. _Where is it!?_ Suddenly Natsu comes out from behind the tree casually whistling while carrying my knife. "Too easy Luce, you know I could have stabbed you pretty easily by now..." I looked at him in shock. "Hey, give it back!" He complies and throws the knife next to my feet. It lands perfectly vertical to the ground, with the blade in the dirt, and handle in the air.

"Hey I know! You won't have to worry about having a knife if you know how to fight really well!" He said walking up to me. "Hey! I protected myself just fine from that man, and I don't need fighting lessons!" I said looking away with crossed arms over my chest.

I feel a large hand softly poke he scratch on my cheek and I wince, backing away from Natsu. "That cut says otherwise. I know you don't want to do this, but it will help me feel better leaving you alone. I don't feel comfortable doing that when you can't defend yourself. Please Luce," I look in his onyx eyes, and they only showed pleading. _I guess he really wants me safe huh…_ I puff out my cheeks into a pout. "Fine..." "There we go! I saw a clearing not to far from here. Grab your things and we can get started!" he said walking away again. I glared at the spot where he left. "So much for not leaving me alone..." I said and started picking up my things. I couldn't even grab the first bag before being on the ground again. Natsu stood over me with a smirk. "I told you I wasn't leaving you alone dumby" he said grinning and soon I was alone again. My heart was pounding. "Creepy much" I mumbled picking up my things.

I made it to the clearing and found the pink haired teen shirtless revealing perfect abs and forearms. He was stretching and his shirt was tied around his waist. I tried not to stare as I made my way over to him. The second he saw me, he smiled and showed his white teeth. I smiled and dropped my things.

"Alright Luce, first things first. How is your stance?" he asked and I just got into stance looking forward with a serious face. He walked circles around me with arms crossed over his chest. "Hmm… Looks good for the most part, but..." he swiped his foot in between my legs and I was on my butt in a second. "Your feet are too close. Widen them and feel the difference." I did as I was told and got back into stance, this time widening my feet. He walked circles and swiped his foot, but I didn't fall this time. "Ha! Take that! This is too ea-" I was tapped on the arm and in a second was on the ground again. Natsu tsked with a smirk on his face. "Luce, Luce, Luce… Two things. One- keep your upper body tight as well, or the stance means nothing. Two- Never let your guard down."

We continued with my stance for about a half hour or so, and soon I had mastered the stance. "Nice job Luce! Now lets work on your blocking," He put his arms up with his elbows tight to his body, but not too tight. His hands were in fists, and his knees were bent. It was the perfect block. "Like this," I copied his moves, standing up straight. "Don't forget your stance," he said sharply and I got into stance, surprised by his authoritative voice. He got behind me and grabbed my hands gently. "Your arms are too close to your body. You want them to absorb the punch, not transfer it to you. Here like this," He whispered and moved my arms into another perfect block. "There, perfect. Keep it and watch." He got back in from of me and lightly punched me. I blocked it and it felt good. I smiled and Natsu smiled as well. "There you go, now I will punch in different places, but it is the same technique."

"Block!" He yelled and I blocked a punch to the stomach. "Block!" I blocked a punch to the face. "Block!" I kept blocking and he kept punching. Soon he felt confident that I had learned the basics. I felt confident too, a little too confident. I threw a punch to his stomach and he simply grabbed my hand with two fingers. "Tsk tsk. I am ashamed… But, also proud at your boldness!" He said and I laughed. "Meow," Natsu and I turned to see Happy looking at Natsu.

"Of course I will pick you up Happy, oh, you are so cute!" They both walked away toward the campsite and I sweatdropped watching how much Happy liked Natsu more than me. _Well he can just have the damn cat then-_ I looked around to see us taking a different route home. Natsu just kept talking to Happy and I sped up a bit. "Hey Natsu, where are we going?" He looked back at me and nodded his head for me to walk next to him so I did. "I found this city, and I saw a fire yesterday. I didn't want to inspect it and instead went to the city you were in, and I am glad I did because well… I found you duh," he laughed and I smiled looking at my feet. "But I didn't save you alone." I looked up at him confused. "What do you mean?" He looked up as if playing back the memory and I listened as he spoke.

"Well remember how that arrow came and shot the thing that was inches from your face?" I nodded slowly. His face looked at me as if waiting for the realization to kick in. "I didn't shoot it. When I came, I didn't have a bow, only you did, but the arrow came from the side so I knew it wasn't you, and I saw a figure standing on one of the buildings. They wore a black coat with a weird symbol on it and carried a torch. When they noticed me looking at them as I jumped from building to building, I caught them jump in that direction." He pointed toward the city that looked huge. "What city is that, Magnolia?" He nodded and I sighed as a thought came into my mind. "We are going there tomorrow aren't we?" I was hoping for a no, but instead got a-

"You took the words right out of my mouth Luce!"


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy stood over the same cliff that she had yesterday, Natsu grinning beside her with Happy in his bag. She could see the creatures crawling around, and there were more here than any other city she had been in. "Aren't you excited?! This will be trust bonding, and we can look out for each other!" Natsu said. "I mean I guess, but there are also HUNDREDS of those things around the city. How are we supposed to look for anyone in that?"

The pinkette thought for a moment before looking to the left a little. "There's an opening over there. We go into the bushes, and then climb the buildings, searching from there. We could wait for them to find us, or we can go in stealth style!" He wrapped his scarf like a ninja, and Lucy rolled her eyes, laughing.

"Yes, but it is dangerous for both of us to go alone. I'll go first while you cover me, and then I'll cover you. Deal?" He pondered for a moment before nodding. "Sounds good." She started to walk, but Natsu grabbed her hand causing her to turn. "Hey...if something goes wrong, and I'm seen, don't under any circumstances blow your cover. Don't try to save me, because I'll be long dead by the time you do, and you'll only get yourself killed." Her breathing fastened as she thought about Natsu dying. She couldn't just do nothing, he was her best friend, maybe more, and she wasn't willing to-

"Got it? Please promise me." She looked deep into his eyes to see he was completely serious. "...Fine, but likewise for me. Okay, get ready to cover." He suddenly got nervous as she walked closer to town. She hid in bushes along the way and she looked back to see when he would signal her to continue. He was sweating as she barely missed one, causing it to look back with a quiet growling noise coming from its bloody mouth, Once the coast was clear, Lucy was finally at the wall of a building, and she looked back at Natsu...but he wasn't there.

She continued to look, before getting nervous. He wouldn't just leave her; no way about that...but what if something happened to him? What if they saw him and killed him quietly knowing she was there. Her breathing quickened and soon she was hyperventilating, but she remained quiet and looked for him, a tear running down her cheek when an hour had passed.

Natsu watched her finally hit the wall and he sighed; she made it safe and sound. His happiness didn't last long as darkness consumed him, a pain lasting shortly in his head before he passed out completely. A person in a dark cloak crouched, picking him up and running toward an unknown location.

When Natsu woke, he was no longer outside, but on a bed. He groaned, the lights blinding him as he felt a throbbing pain in his head. "Wha...Where am I?" There was a gasp at the other side of the room, and a group of figures ran toward him, a small one reaching him first. She hugged him tightly and cried. "Natsu! We thought you were dead!" She yelled and Natsu finally could focus on what he was seeing. His eyes widened as his throat ran dry. There stood Erza, Wendy, Gajeel, Levy, Gray, and Juvia. They all looked healthy, besides the minor bruisings here and there.

He couldn't form words until he smiled, his eyes watering. "Hey, guys...You all sure do look better than I feel." They laughed with tears in their eyes and even Gray had to blink a few times. "How did you all make it?" He asked and Erza sat on the bed and smiled. "Lucky for us, we happened to find each other pretty quickly."

Flashback

Crowds of people screamed as creatures screeched jumping onto people and ripping them apart. Gray limped while Erza had his arm draped around her shoulder. They had to step out of the crowd and into an alleyway that had a gated fence to it. The redhead laid him down and looked at his wound, a shard of glass in his side. It wouldn't kill him if she did things right, and she ripped her sleeve off, looking at him with worry. "This might hurt a little..." She said, but he couldn't hear her, the screams of people drowning out all of the noise. He knew what was about to happen and she knew to give him a cloth to bite on wouldn't do much as screams were everywhere already. She counted down.

"Three...Two...One..." She grabbed the shard as big as both of her hands and pulled, earning a pained cry from Gray and a massive cut on her hand, but she didn't worry about that. She quickly placed the ripped cloth over his side and held it there, before taking off her shirt completely, revealing a black spaghetti tank top underneath and wrapped it very tightly around his side. She tied it at the back and allowed him time to recover before they knew they had to move or they'd be singled out.

Gray stood carefully and Erza went to open the gate, only to slam into the wall in cover as a creature came running across the opening, not seeing her, fortunately. Gray looked ahead to see a bluenette that made his heart stop. "Juvia..." He whispered. She was unconscious, currently being stepped on by people running, but many avoided her. He didn't hesitate to limp into the crowd, the shirt turning red from blood leakage and Erza cried out to him before rushing in. Finally seeing who was there, she quickly picked up the bluenette before placing her in the alleyway as well. They all sat there and looked for an opportunity, but to carry two people, Erza knew it would be their death.

"You two stay here, I'm going to see if I can find anything or anyone who can help!" She yelled over the noise. He couldn't help but agree but made sure to tell her to return or he'd kill her. She laughed before bravely heading out.

Gajeel was in the store, a bloody nose the only thing proving that he had gotten into a fight. The civilian that had attacked him only wanted his bow and arrows, but Gajeel refused and they got into a fistfight. The civilian pulled out a knife, but couldn't make any hits as he was beaten to the ground. Gajeel apologized to the unconscious man and hid him in an aisle before taking what he could and leaving to find Levy. He saw where she had gone, the crowds pushing her toward the west side of town. He replaced the bow and arrow for a crossbow and when finding many bolts, decided it was time to find the petite girl.

He found her, but she had been shoved hard into a ditch, where she decided it best to hide. Creatures jumped over the place where she was hiding and he found her crying as one barreled its way toward her. He quickly aimed and fired the crossbow, successfully hitting it in the face. They both knew it wasn't dead but Levy cried, running into Gajeels arms as he picked her up as to not lose her and run toward the back of the city. Levy watched people get hit but shouted for Gajeel to stop when she noticed a small girl with violet hair on top of a house. Gajeel shouted for Wendy who looked his way and smiled with tears, jumping into his arms as well. He grumbled as he made his way toward the forest but once again was interrupted when Wendy shouted. "Look! In the alley!"

Levy gasped as she saw Gray and an unconscious Juvia sitting in the alleyway, but slumped over. He ran over and opened the gate then closed it quickly. Wendy pulled out some first aid equipment she had found inside the house she was on and got Gray to a better condition before turning to Juvia. She helped as much as she could, but a lot of the injuries were internal and they'd have to wait to see if she would be alright. Soon the screaming became less and less and the creatures had spread outside the city, looking for a new host. Erza soon returned with food and supplies in a bag and dropped her stuff when she found Levy, Gajeel, and Wendy. She hugged all of them, relieved to find them alive. They all decided that with the crowd gone, Gajeel would lead with the crossbow and Levy would help Gray. Erza would pick up Juvia while Wendy kept an eye out for any creatures.

Once getting out of the city successfully, the first place they found was Magnolia. There they found where they were now and waited for the last two to make it.

End Flashback

Natsu nodded before remembering the one person he vowed to protect. "Lucy… Where is she?" They all frowned as Gajeel spoke up. "She wasn't here. We never found her..." The pinkette shook his head. "No she was with me before...before-" Someone came in as Natsu's eyes widened. He sat up quickly and ignored the pain in his head.

"First of all, whoever knocked me out, you're dead to me, but Lucy is in danger! She is still in town!" A ginger walked toward them, a sheepish grin on his face. "Yeah...sorry about that, didn't know how else to get you to come with me without having to knock you out or have you yell and alert those things..." Natsu dismissed him. "Anyway, Lucy is still out there, we need to get her!"

Everyone yelled. "What?! Loke why didn't you get her?!" Juvia asked and he waved his hands in defense. "I didn't know she was there! I only saw him!" They looked at Natsu worriedly who looked like he was about to get sick. "I can't lose her guys!" There was a meow and Natsu looked to see Happy out of the bag. Everyone was a little confused but they had to get ready because they knew that Lucy was in serious danger.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucy was getting tired of waiting in the bush. They knew she was there and many of them circled the area, smelling for her. They were hungry but she couldn't be their next meal. Natsu or no Natsu, she had to escape. One stood very close to her hiding spot and made a clicking noise, waiting for her to move. She didn't dare take a breath. Once it walked away slowly, the blonde stood quietly and ran inside the building her back was previously against. She climbed the stairs reaching the top of the roof and stared at the city below. She quietly walked along until she reached the end.

Creatures walked below her as she jumped about four feet to the next building. She didn't know where she was going, but she couldn't stay in one spot; not while they were looking. She jumped another building, and another. Finally, she reached a long building and ran for the next one. The jump was longer, but with enough momentum, Lucy could make it.

The blonde neared the place to jump, but inches from the edge, she hesitated, slipping on a shingle. Her feet falling from beneath her, she fell, hitting the brick wall and then the stairs that lead her there. They broke and she fell along with them. They broke her fall but it was very loud and soon they would come.

"CRAAA!" There they were. Sweat ran down her forehead, and her heart sank. She looked for a place to hide and ran into a dumpster. A putrid smell filled her nose and she looked down to see three dead bodies; flies swarming their corpses. She would've gotten sick right there but the sound of a creature banging on the dumpster grabbed her attention.

Luckily it was alone but the dumpster started to tear, and she found herself looking into the eyes of a previous person. Someone who probably had a family and children. Someone who had a job. They were a valued citizen, and they were trying to rip her apart. It broke free, tipping the dumpster over and scratching at her. She cried as it scratcher her arm, but with her legs extended, blocked the mouth that thrashed at her face.

She took a broken bottle from the trash and beat it in the head, causing it to fall and scratch at its eyes. She grabbed her bleeding forearm and ran, limping away. More of them rounded the corner and climbed on one another to be the first to kill her. She barely ran ahead of them, adrenaline keeping her speed up.

She rounded a corner and found one running toward her not from behind, but in front of her. She had no time to move as it jumped to tackle her down. She watched as it held its claws up and she saw her reflection in its glossy eyes as a crossbow bolt shot completely through its head. It fell gurgling fluids from its throat as someone shouted. "RUN!" She recognized it and didn't hesitate to put one foot in front of the other.

Turning the corner a few times, she saw bolts flying and knocking down creatures left and right. Once her legs started to cramp, she slowed and they were gaining. Gajeel couldn't fire as fast as they were catching up, and as one swipe at her shoes, she fell, her eyes closing and waiting for the impact.

But it never came. Her eyes opened cautiously to find that she was being carried bridal style than none other than Gray. He looked down at her, her head on his left side and her left arm bleeding away from him. He gripped it to slow the pouring and smiled at her as he ran. "Don't worry, I got ya' Lucy." She smiled with tears in her eyes. "Gray! You're alive!" He laughed as he turned a corner gaining distance between the creatures and them.

"I'm not leaving anytime soon. I promise!" She laughed, her legs in pain. She must've twisted it while that thing swiped at her, but Gray looked like he knew as he didn't let her out of his grasp. They made it to a crossroad, and when he saw about thirty creatures coming toward them, he took a left, only to do a 180 degrees turn to the right when seeing them there as well.

He didn't anticipate the dead end that greeted them not to long after the crossroad, however. Lucy looked at him with worry and fear. "Gray? What do we do?!" He looked up to find the roof of the building that faced their backs and yelled. "You go up!" He tossed her in the air, causing her to scream and flail around, but she stopped when at the height of her flight, two large arms grabbed her securely.

She cried again as Natsu smiled at her, getting lost in her eyes. He too gripped her arm when finding it bleeding. The blonde looked back at the alleyway to see a bluenette come in, grenades in hand. She threw them and reached out her arm for Gray to grab, barely making it as he struggled to climb the wall. A huge explosion sounded and the creatures all flew back, screaming in torture from the noise and blast. Levy and Gray caught up to Natsu holding Lucy and they ran together.

Erza stood with the door open, the coast being clear from all creatures since the explosion distracted them. Once inside, Lucy smiled gratefully at the redhead. "Erza! Levy! Gajeel! Gray! N-Natsu..." she was starting to cry again the emotion coming out of her. "Wendy...and J-Juvia… You guys are all o-okay!" They hugged her and she winced in pain when one of them accidentally hit her injury. Natsu picked her up again as the pain increased in her ankle once more, and they looked at the cut on her arm.

Wendy, who was very observant for a middle aged teen, looked at the arm closely. Her eyes suddenly widened as she recognized the mark, three long, bloody slashes going down almost vertically to the blonde's elbow. Erza looked at Wendy with worry. "Y-you don't think..."

Natsu looked confused and frantically searched Lucy's arm who stood concerned. "What's wrong? It's just a scratch." He said and Loke came in hurriedly, his eyes wide and sweat down his face.

"She needs to leave!" He said and they all looked at him. "What?!" Lucy said in shock. "I said… You need to leave. Now. You're putting us all in danger!" Levy spoke up. "She's fine! Look at her! You're being irrational Loke." Her friends nodded and Lucy just stared as faces watched her closely; strangers looking at her like she was a ticking time bomb about to explode.

"I'M being irrational?! What happened to Lisanna?! How about Cana?! They were fine the first day or two… Then the next day, they kill three people and we all have to go into quarantine, waiting to see if we end up like THEM!" He pointed outside where the creatures roamed.

"Well then I am going with her! She's my best friend and a scratch from some THING isn't going to change that!" Levy yelled. Loke rolled his eyes in frustration and walked up to her, grabbing her shoulder and pushing her toward the door. "Fine by me, I won't die out there! You can go or stay but SHE-" He went up and grabbed her wrist harshly, trying to pull her from Natsu. The pinkette shifted slightly, a green glint of warning in his eyes. His voice came out raspy; almost in a growl. "Don't. Touch. Her."

The ginger immediately let go, but continued his sentence. "-needs to leave..."

"If you kick her out, then you kick us out as well. We are a family. If Lucy changes, then I want her last moments with us to be amazing…before she...before she-" Natsu said, looking at the blonde who stared into his eyes with worry and shame. She didn't want to be the reason they all got kicked out and possibly die.

"-BEFORE she looks like them!" Loke gestured outside again. "Now get out before I-"

"Before you what?" A feminine voice said, a woman with long white hair walking forward, blue eyes glaring at the ginger. "Last time I checked, you didn't own this place. Oh yeah, I do. We could have kicked you out many times for putting us in danger. Now you are trying to kick someone else- a FAMILY out into a world like that? Rations lowered...again Loke. Come on, you're better than this. Look at them, they lost everything; each other. Now you want to basically kill them by sending them out with no resources whatsoever?"

Her eyes softened as she looked at the group in front of her. "Sorry about him… He gets very paranoid most times…" She looked at the cut on Lucy's arms and frowned. "As much as I hate to say it though… It does look pretty bad. I can't put everyone here in danger. We've lost half our men-" Lucy smiled.

"It's alright. I've basically been living in the wilderness for a month now, I can handle doing it again. Thank you and your group for saving my life back in the previous city a few days back… I'm glad to have met good people for the first time since the incident." The blue eyed woman smiled sadly and sighed, going back into the store and getting three bags full of food and water, and then an extra bag full of weapons and ammo.

"I'm sorry I can't do more… Good luck out there you guys..." They nodded and went out the back heading into the forest. It was nearing dark when they set up camp, silence the only sound being heard, beside the crackle of the fire in the middle of them. Lucy's arm was bandaged and it stung, but not too bad. She slept next to Happy who curled up beside her and Natu as everyone else sat, staring at their food along with the rest of the group. Natsu finally broke the silence. "What are we gonna do?" He asked in a small voice and nobody could find an answer. Happy looked up as he stood glaring at the fire. "I mean, we have to do something! We can't let Luce change like that! There has to be a way!" Erza shrugged in annoyance.

"There isn't anything we can do… It's not like we can just come up with an antidote for her and magically make this all go away. We can only make her life the best it can for the next few days. While she is still our Lucy." Natsu threw his food into the fire, letting it burn. "She'll always be our Lucy! Thing or not! Erza, you are smart with chemistry and crap, take what we have and make something to cure this!" Erza stood as well, her face illuminated by the flame's light. "I don't have the materials, I'd need a lab or something..."

Levy's eyes widened. She stood and paced around, getting everyone's attention. "Uh Levy what are you-" "SHH!" She yelled, interrupting Gajeel who pouted. "What if we found one… a lab, I mean. One that started this whole thing? One where those creatures originated from?" Gray squinted, also going deep in thought. "The lab… in our town?" She nodded. "Yeah!"

They all sat in silence and looked at the sleeping blonde who smiled peacefully. "Well, I'm down." Gray said and smiled. "I am too. Lucy is our family!" Juvia said and Gray smiled larger at her. Levy and Gajeel both nodded, and agreed to going. "If I can get there, I can make an antidote." Erza said with half-confidence. It was enough for Wendy. She nodded. "Then I'm in too."

They looked at Natsu who continued to stare at Lucy. He then looked back at them, a look of determination in his eyes. "Anything for her. Let's do this."


	7. Chapter 7

Lucy woke the next morning to movements all around her. She heard muffled talking, but as she started to open her eyes, she found her face covered with white cloth. There was a rumble, and she felt the vibrations of laughter. She lifted her head, and as the scarf fell from her face, she was greeted with a bright sun and long pastures. Natsu turned his head to find her half sleeping face looking toward him.

"Wha… How long have I been asleep?" He chuckled. "Umm… well it's been about four hours since we woke up, but that was at sunrise, so you got a little bit of sleep. Are you feeling alright?" His voice was laced with worry and concern, and she smiled, getting down from his back, slightly disappointed by the lack of touch.

"Yeah, I feel great!" She said stretching, hiding the pain coming from her arm. It was bandaged thanks to Wendy and she didn't want to remove the covering. Erza, Gray, and Juvia looked at her smiling, and Erza spoke up. "Good, because we have to keep moving. We are going to find a cure Lucy." The blonde looked at her with confusion. "...How?"

Natsu was pained to hear the desperation in her voice. He smiled anyway and and looked ahead, his hands behind his back. "Well, with Erza being a nerd, and Levy being smart too, we are going to go back to that lab where it all started and they are going to create an antidote!" Lucy's eyes widened… and then she smiled.

"Really? Do we even know where to start?" Levy spoke up holding a book with molecular drawings and chemical equations. "Well… it won't be easy, that's for sure. First we will need a sample of a contaminated subject, and then we will have to do some testing on that compared to a non-contaminated subject to get an independent, then from there we-" Natsu pretended to fall asleep, making everyone but Levy laugh. She pouted.

"Then...we do testing and inject her with the antidote!" She said and walked off angrily, making everyone laugh some more. Lucy was the first to stop and she looked at her arm sighing. I sure hope this works…

They walked for the rest of the day, sometimes hiding from creatures who were travelling close by. They set up camp and Lucy told everyone about Happy as she pet him with a smile, and the man that tried to kill her. Natsu told them about how he came to save her that one time, and Juvia and Gray shared the same story to Lucy that they told Natsu. There were some laughing, some reflection, and Lucy still cried as she shared the story of killing that man. "I never even knew his name..." She finished and they sat in silence for a while.

Lucy brought out the notebook smiling and drawing about another two centimeters on her map. "Only 4 centimeter to go!... Or a two day walk, if we hurry fast enough." She said and Gray smiled at her optimistic attitude. It really did help everyone. He watched as Natsu leaned over and pointed down at something, talking to her in a small tone while separate conversations continued in the background. Gray frowned at the sight.

He thought about what it would be like without Juvia...he didn't like the thought. He didn't want to see Natsu alone without the blonde, because without one, the other wasn't complete. He hoped they were able to pull this off, because if they lost Lucy, they would lose Natsu too.

Natsu pointed down at a city on the map. "Hey, that is where I found you...right?" Lucy laughed shaking her head. She pointed across the page. "Natsu we are over here, there is no way the city where you saved me from is over there… That's an island. Here..." She looked up at him and saw the fire reflecting in his eyes. He saw the same, and watched as the brown melted the soft oranges and yellows of the flame, making her stunning...but he would never say that out loud of course!

Lucy looked back down at the map, then back at him smiling softly. "This is the spot where you saved me from." Natsu didn't say anything, and only watched as she continued to shade in other areas on the map. He looked to see Gray watching both of them, a frown on his face. The pinkette knew he was worried for them, and to be honest he was too.

Natsu sighed and looked away from his best friend and rival, smiling again. "Well, I am going to go to bed guys, see you in the morning!" Lucy nodded , closing her book. "Agreed! Good night guys." They both fell on their backs next to each other and everyone followed suit later.

Natsu looked at the stars sprinkled throughout the sky and felt something warm touch his hand. He looked to where he felt the contact to see Lucy looking at him with fear and her hand in his. "Natsu… I'm scared." He held her hand and rolled over on his side, facing her. She did the same and he sighed. "What about? We are going to get the cure Luce."

She gave him the look of 'you know what I mean' and spoke up. "If we don't make it there in time and I start to...change-" Natsu interrupted. "-which won't happen." The blonde rolled her eyes. "IF it does, then please… don't let me become one of them..." He knew what she was asking for him and he shook his head.

"I won't because I'll make sure we get you to that lab and create a cure." She knew it was pointless to try to argue with him, she couldn't ask that of him, and a tear rolled down her cheek landing on the blanket that was laid out for them.

The pinkette pulled her close for a hug, which she gladly accepted. He draped his arm over her waist and carefully let her injured arm over his chest, holding it so it wouldn't get more hurt. She took in the warmth and soon fell asleep, unlike the worried Natsu who stared at the sky in pain. 'Please...Don't take her away from me...Please'

They woke early, before anyone else and Natsu helped her up. It was getting harder for the blonde to hide the pain, but with Natsu going to start a fire for breakfast, she was able to cry alone. Soon he was back, and he faced away from her as he stacked sticks on top of one another, unable to face her. He knew she had been crying and he hated to see the streaks down her cheeks. He could do nothing for the pain, but she was staying strong, so he had to as well. They cooked a rabbit and the smell woke everyone else up as they ate with jokes and laughter.

Soon they continued to walk and Lucy held her arm in pain, unable to keep it quiet. She walked in the back behind everyone and once a sob escaped her mouth, Wendy and Natsu were there in a flash. "Hold on let me take the bandage off an- Oh my gosh..." She took away the bandage and Natsu gasped as green oozed from under it, causing the blonde to pass out from exposure of the wound to the cool air. Wendy called to Erza who held the bag full of water cans. "Give me one, quick! Gray I need a sleeve now!" Both compiled, Gray ripping his flannel patterned shirt. Erza handed over a can and Wendy took out a pin from her hair, the clip having a sharp point at the end. She cut away of the puss and doused the sleeve in water, covering the wound again, then putting a clean bandage over it. She sighed, wiping the sweat from nervousness. "Whew… She'll be alright, she just passed out from the shock."

Natsu picked her up carefully, and was angry. "Why her… She is the kindest of all of us, why not me..." Gray knew this was coming. He was getting nervous at how Natsu was taking this whole thing and he was starting to crack. "Don't worry Natsu..." he said carefully. "She'll be alright, we just have to get the cure." The pinkette shook his head. "What if we don't make it there? She was crying last night and told me if we don't make it to make sure we didn't let her become one of those things...She asked me to kill her if the time comes..." A single tear slid down his face and he wiped it, controlling himself.

"If something bad happens to her, I will never forgive myself..." He said slowly with more seriousness, if that was possible. Everyone believed every word her said, and took his last sentence very seriously.

The blonde woke a couple hours later, but she was too tired to walk. Levy followed her map and continued in the right direction. Lucy took in her surroundings and smiled. "We are ahead of schedule, and we might actually get there tomorrow haha..." Natsu smiled at her voice and Levy smiled too. "Yep, and just to be safe Lu, we are walking through the night!"

This made Lucy feel less worried and she looked at Natsu's face, her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for everything Natsu, and you guys too… I don't know where I would be without you all!" She laughed along with them and Natsu rolled his eyes. "You'd do the same for us dummy." She nodded and he felt her hair on his neck and he shuttered slightly.

Lucy's injured arm dangled and she couldn't feel it that much anyway. There was a hissing in her bag which made her stop thinking suddenly. She let Natsu drop her down and opened it, only to find a blue blur run away behind Natsu's leg. "Happy? What's wrong?" The blonde reached for the cat only for him to hiss again and raise the hairs on his back...He was hissing at her.

"H-happy...It's me, see?" She smiled but to no use. The cat hissed on last time before running off for good. She remembered crying for hours, her first friend gone. She had saved him as a kitten and he was her comforter. Now he was gone. Forever.

Natsu hugged her while she sobbed, Erza trying to find the blue cat. Levy started tearing up, knowing why he ran away. He sensed something growing inside Lucy and survival instincts took in. Lucy sniffed. "I think we should stop for the night." Natsu looked at her with concern. "But Luce-" "I want to stop for the night...Please." She said rudely, and then caught herself.

She could feel herself losing everything that made her...Lucy. Levy sighed. "Well, we are ahead, so I guess a rest wouldn't hurt too bad, right?" She said with a smile. Everyone nodded and Lucy sat looking for Happy; waiting for him to come. She even left a can of water for him in the morning. She decided to leave the untouched can in the morning for one last goodbye to the cat.

Lucy felt a new wave of determination set over her. If Happy could feel that thing inside of her, then that means she was getting close. They had to keep moving. She didn't walk on Natsu's back and felt the pain start to go away as she smiled. Everyone smiled at her hope and it comforted them as well.

"Look! There it is!" Levy said suddenly and Lucy rushed forward to see the city where they grew up in a valley below. They crouched and watched the creatures walk around the city for food, some attacking each other. "We need a plan."

"I've got one."


End file.
